United States Eventing Association

The USEA Convention Daily: Saturday

It’s time for another day of educational talks, open forums and special events at the 2019 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

Like Friday, there are a myriad of educational sessions to interest convention-goers. Learn about nutrition for the performance horse, equine sports massage, branding and sponsorship, frangible cross-country fences, and more!

There are several more open forums taking place today, including the Safety Committee Open Forum, USEF Eventing Sport Committee Open Forum, Rule Change Open Forum, Instructors’ Certification Program Open Forum, Young Riders Open Forum, and Amateur & Adult Rider Open Forum. Get ready to jump in on the conversation and have your voice be heard!

For the full Convention schedule, click here.

Following along from home? Here’s what you need to know.

The USEA will be livestreaming select content from Convention on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. You can check out the full schedule and watch the livestream here.

There are two separate feeds of the 2019 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention available for viewing. The "Open Stream" feed provides livestream content that is free and available for all to watch, while the "Member Stream" feed is available for viewing free to USEA members who have joined or renewed their membership for the 2020 competition season. Members who haven’t yet renewed for 2020 or those who wish to join the USEA for the first time may choose from several membership options including a full competing membership or a supporting membership. Click here to join or renew your membership now in order to gain access to the member-restricted content.

Here are some highlights from today’s scheduled:

Track A

Tai Chi for Riders
Saturday, December 14 | 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Speaker: Matt Brown
Liberty B

Improve your balance, timing, and strength by using techniques from the ancient Chinese art of Tai Chi Chuan. Come learn from four-star eventer Matt Brown how to stay with your horse over those big drops, how to sit that extended trot, and how to control your horse without tension. This class will help you to increase your balance and partnership skills. The strength gained through this type of martial arts training can often be very useful to riders due to the increased flexibility, body awareness and posture that goes along with the training. For this reason, it can sometimes be more useful than more traditional forms of strength training. Come have fun working out your convention kinks and improve your riding while not in the saddle.

Feeding Strategies and Nutrition for the Sport Horse – Presented by Nutrena
Saturday, December 14 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Speakers: Jaclyn Gagnon
Constitution A

This session will focus on how to build and maintain quality muscle through nutrition, understanding the proper calorie sourcing for fueling different types of work, and tips to manage common situations encountered by performance horses.

Instructors’ Certification Program Open Forum
Saturday, December 14 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Speakers: David O’Connor, Phyllis Dawson, Robin Walker, Jim Graham
Constitution A

The 2019 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention ICP Open Forum will feature hot topics including training the horse/rider with frangible pin technology in mind, teaching our riders to be “risk managers”, and how SafeSport is important for instructors and riders alike.

Rule Change Open Forum
Saturday, December 14 | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Speaker: Malcolm Hook
Republic Ballroom

Learn about the rule changes that will go into effect in 2020. Discuss the latest rule change proposals and have your opinions heard.

Young Rider Open Forum
Saturday, December 14 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Speaker: Bec Braitling
Constitution A

The Young Riders Open Forum provides an opportunity for all Young Riders to share ideas, make suggestions, and learn what is happening nationally in the program.

Amateur & Adult Rider Open Forum
Saturday, December 14 | 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Speakers: Dawn Robbins, Lou Leslie
Constitution A

This open forum will focus on amateur issues. Adult Rider coordinators will be discussing their current activities and ideas for improving the sport for the adult rider and the amateur. Speakers will touch on amateur issues, including topics such as having more amateur divisions, cross-country courses and difficulty, getting new amateurs into the sport, the definition of amateur, and keeping down the costs of eventing. Then we will open the floor to discussion. Please attend and bring your questions, concerns, and solutions. We want to hear from you!

The Rest of the Story with Denis Glaccum
Saturday, December 14 | 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Speaker: Denis Glaccum
Republic Ballroom

Denis Glaccum was one of the very first members of the USEA (formerly USCTA) and the very first winner of the Association’s Rider of the Year Award. Over the past 60+ years Glaccum has seen it all in American eventing. The USEA is offering its members and the public the opportunity to hear all of the stories and opinions you haven’t heard before. It is a no holds barred opportunity to learn about where the sport has been and where it is going straight from Glaccum himself.

Track B

Safety Committee Open Forum
Saturday, December 14 | 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Speakers: Jennifer Miller, DVM, Jon Holling, Mary Coldren, Sarah Broussard
Constitution B

In 2017 the USEA Board of Governors officially reorganized the USEA Safety Committee by splitting it into three separate subcommittees: the Rider Safety Subcommittee, the Equine Safety and Welfare Subcommittee, and the Cross-Country Safety Subcommittee. The reorganization has allowed for the USEA to better utilize its volunteer leaders in safety, add new expertise to each of those areas of risk assessment, and to better focus its efforts on important safety topics. This open forum will consist of updates from each of the subcommittees as well as an open forum session allowing for convention attendees to ask questions.

American Horse Trials Foundation
Saturday, December 14 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Speakers: Dave Emmons, Sharyn Antico, Jim Graham, Donna Field
Republic Ballroom

The American Horse Trials Foundation is a nonprofit corporation established to assist event riders and organizers in raising tax-deductible financial support for national and international competition. Since its inception in 1987 the AHTF has distributed over $21,000,000 directly to equestrian athletes and competition organizers for competitive activities. If you would like to assist equestrian athletes or are a rider or organizer needing financial support, you’re invited to attend the Foundation’s meeting. Perhaps they can fund your dream, too!

Sports Massage for the Performance Horse
Saturday, December 14 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Speaker: Jo-Ann Wilson
Constitution B

This presentation will cover understanding the connection between problems in performance and the precise underlying muscle causing the problem, due to resistance from muscle tightness, identifying causes of muscle tightness and prevention, and solving and eliminating the resistance to specific movements in performance.

USEF Eventing Sport Committee Open Forum
Saturday, December 14 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Speaker: Mike Huber
Republic Ballroom

This is a general committee meeting and will cover administrative duties and rule change discussion.

Rule Change Open Forum – This is already on Track A
Saturday, December 14 | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Speaker: Malcolm Hook
Republic Ballroom

Learn about the rule changes that will go into effect in 2020. Discuss the latest rule change proposals and have your opinions heard.

Riders: Build Your Brand and Earn Sponsorships
Saturday, December 14 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Speaker: Frankie Thieriot Stutes
Constitution B

This session will feature Frankie Thieriot Stutes speaking about what young professionals, specifically those graduating from the Young Rider ranks, should be doing to build their brand, how best to spend money on marketing, how to contact sponsors, and more.

Where is the Sport Headed with Frangible Cross-Country Fences?
Saturday, December 14 | 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Speakers: Jon Holling, Tremaine Cooper, Dan Michaels, Morgan Rowsell
Constitution B

A thought-provoking discussion on how frangible fence designs have advanced in recent years and designs that will be made available in the near future. The discussion will touch on recent and future rule changes related to frangible fences as it relates to required use and penalties for triggering. Frangible fences are one way among hundreds of others to reduce risk in the sport, but they are not the only solution.

USEA Track

USEA Annual Meeting of the Members & Keynote Presentation
Saturday, December 14 | 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Grand Ballroom

The USEA Annual Meeting of Members is an important part of the weekend as we bid a fond farewell to the Board of Governors members who have completed their terms, welcome our new Board of Governors members with smiles, and discuss important Association business. This year we have something special for you a look at the past, present, and future of the sport with some notable eventing personalities.

Awards Cocktail Reception
Saturday, December 14 | 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Grand Ballroom

Awards Dinner & 60^th Anniversary Celebration
Saturday, December 14 | 6:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Speaker: Jim Wofford
Grand Ballroom

Saturday's Awards Dinner will feature eventing legend Jim Wofford as Master of Ceremonies. Come and celebrate the achievements of your friends, fellow riders, volunteers, and other members of the sport. The Awards Dinner will be followed by the 60th Anniversary celebration.

Today is the final day to place your bids in the USEA Foundation Silent Auction. You can check out the different items up for bid in the Grand Liberty Foyer.

Take a break from meetings and unwind with film. The USEA has created a dedicated film room (Liberty C, Second Floor) that will play archived event footage and equestrian-inspired blockbuster films each day during Convention. Take a look at today's schedule for the film room.

Saturday, December 14

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. | History of Eventing in Area I & Film from 2000s

Morning playlist [2h 2m]:

• History of Eventing in Area I

11:00 a.m. | The Little Horse That Could 1996 | 1 hour

Afternoon playlist [2h 6m]:

• 2004 Athens Olympic Games
• 2019 AEC highlight videos

This year, the USEA will be rolling out selected sessions from the USEA Convention on demand for your viewing enjoyment. Today, check out a session on the new FEI dressage tests, "Cultivating the Whole Equestrian," and a panel discussion on why U.S. event horses aren't lasting longer.

Cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell led a session on Friday evening about best practices for maintaining a cross-country schooling course. Click here to pick up some tips!

Erik Duvander led two USEA High Performance Open Forums on Friday, discussing what has happened in high performance eventing over the last year. Click here for the report.

Click here to read all of the USEA’s Convention coverage. For important updates throughout the day, keep an eye on the Noteworthy News.

Stay tuned for more coverage from the 2019 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention!

Helpful Links

• USEA Website
• Convention Page
• USEA’s Convention Coverage
• Livestream
• Program
• Schedule
• Floor Plan
• Vendor List
• 2019 Financials
• 2018 Annual Meeting Minutes

Follow the USEA coverage on social media!

#USEAConvention | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | USEA’s Convention Coverage

About the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention

The USEA Annual Meeting & Convention takes place each December and brings together a large group of dedicated USEA members and supporters to discuss, learn, and enjoy being surrounded by other eventing enthusiasts. The USEA organizes multiple seminars in addition to committee meetings, open forums, and tons of fun! The 2019 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention is taking place at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, December 12-15, 2019. Click here to learn more about the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention.